Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder affecting a substantial proportion of women of reproductive age. It is frequently associated with ovulatory dysfunction, infertility, and an increased risk of chronic metabolic diseases. A hallmark pathological feature of PCOS is the arrest of follicular development, closely linked to impaired intercellular communication between the oocyte and surrounding granulosa cells. Transzonal projections (TZPs) are specialized cytoplasmic extensions derived from granulosa cells that penetrate the zona pellucida to establish direct contact with the oocyte. These structures serve as essential conduits for the transfer of metabolites, signaling molecules (e.g., cAMP, cGMP), and regulatory factors (e.g., microRNAs, growth differentiation factors), thereby maintaining meiotic arrest, facilitating metabolic cooperation, and supporting gene expression regulation in the oocyte. The proper formation and maintenance of TZPs depend on the cytoskeletal integrity of granulosa cells and the regulated expression of key connexins, particularly CX37 and CX43. Recent studies have revealed that in PCOS, TZPs exhibit significant structural and functional abnormalities. Contributing factors—such as hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and dysregulation of critical signaling pathways (including PI3K/Akt, Wnt/β‑catenin, and MAPK/ERK)—collectively impair TZP integrity and reduce their formation. This disruption in granulosa-oocyte communication compromises oocyte quality and contributes to follicular arrest and anovulation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of TZP biology, including their formation mechanisms, molecular composition, and stage-specific dynamics during folliculogenesis. We highlight the pathological alterations in TZPs observed in PCOS and elucidate how endocrine and metabolic disturbances—particularly androgen excess and hyperinsulinemia—downregulate CX43 expression and impair gap junction function, thereby exacerbating ovarian microenvironmental dysfunction. Furthermore, we explore emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at preserving or restoring TZP integrity. Anti-androgen therapies (e.g., spironolactone, flutamide), insulin sensitizers (e.g., metformin), and GLP-1 receptor agonists (e.g., liraglutide) have shown potential in modulating connexin expression and enhancing granulosa-oocyte communication. In addition, agents such as melatonin, AMPK activators, and GDF9/BMP15 analogs may promote TZP formation and improve oocyte competence. Advanced technologies, including ovarian organoid models and CRISPR-based gene editing, offer promising platforms for studying TZP regulation and developing targeted interventions. In summary, TZPs are indispensable for maintaining follicular homeostasis, and their disruption plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of PCOS-related folliculogenesis failure. Targeting TZP integrity represents a promising therapeutic avenue in PCOS management and warrants further mechanistic and translational investigation.

Objective To investigate the treatment outcomes,prognosis,and risk factors of treatment failure of peritoneal dialysis associated peritonitis (PDAP) caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae,and thus provide clinical evidence for the prevention and treatment of this disease. Methods The clinical data of PDAP patients at four peritoneal dialysis centers from January 1,2014 to December 31,2019 were collected retrospectively.The treatment outcomes and prognosis were compared between the patients with PDAP caused by Klebsiella.pneumoniae and that caused by Escherichia coli.Kaplan-Meier method was employed to establish the survival curve of technical failure,and multivariate Logistic regression to analyze the risk factors of the treatment failure of PADP caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae. Results In the 4 peritoneal dialysis centers,1034 cases of PDAP occurred in 586 patients from 2014 to 2019,including 21 cases caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and 98 cases caused by Escherichia coli.The incidence of Klebsiella pneumoniae caused PDAP was 0.0048 times per patient per year on average,ranging from 0.0024 to 0.0124 times per patient per year during 2014-2019.According to the Kaplan-Meier survival curve,the technical failure rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae caused PDAP was higher than that of Escherichia coli caused PDAP (P=0.022).The multivariate Logistic regression model showed that long-term dialysis was an independent risk factor for the treatment failure of Klebsiella pneumoniae caused PDAP (OR=1.082,95%CI=1.011-1.158,P=0.023).Klebsiella pneumoniae was highly sensitive to amikacin,meropenem,imipenem,piperacillin,and cefotetan,and it was highly resistant to ampicillin (81.82%),cefazolin (53.33%),tetracycline (50.00%),cefotaxime (43.75%),and chloramphenicol (42.86%). Conclusion The PDAP caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae had worse prognosis than that caused by Escherichia coli,and long-term dialysis was an independent risk factor for the treatment failure of Klebsiella pneumoniae caused PDAP.
Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Retrospective Studies ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Peritoneal Dialysis/adverse effects* ; Peritonitis/drug therapy* ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Failure ; Escherichia coli

Accurate classification of the acetabular injuries and appropriate treatment plan are great challenges for orthopedic surgeons because of the irregular anatomical structure of the acetabulum and aggregation of important vessels and nerves around it. Letournel-Judet classification system has been widely applied to classify acetabular fractures. However, there are several limitations, including incomplete inclusion of fracture types, difficulty in understanding and insufficient guidance for surgical treatment, etc. Serious complications such as traumatic arthritis are common due to wrong classification and diagnosis and improper selection of surgical strategy, which brings a heavy burden to the society and families. Three-column classification, based on anatomic characteristics, has advantages of containing more fracture types and being easy to understand, etc. To solve the problems existing in the diagnosis and treatment process based on Letournel-Judet classification, achieve accurate diagnosis and treatment of patients with acetabular fractures, and obtain satisfactory prognosis, the Orthopedic Trauma Emergency Center of Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University and the Trauma Orthopedic Branch of the Chinese Orthopedic Association organized experts from relevant fields to formulate the Expert consensus on the accurate diagnosis and treatment of acetabular fractures based on three-column classification ( version 2023) in terms of principles of evidence-based medicine. Based on the three-column classification, 15 recommendations were proposed, covering the diagnosis, treatment, complication prevention and management, etc, so as to provide reference for accurate diagnosis and treatment of acetabular fractures.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment of Pseudomonas peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis(PsP). Methods The data of patients receiving peritoneal dialysis in four tertiary hospitals in Jilin province from 2015 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.According to the etiological classification,the patients with peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis(PDAP)were classified into PsP group and non-PsP group.The incidence of PsP was calculated,and the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of the two groups were compared.Kaplan-Meier method was used to draw the survival curve,and Cox regression was performed to analyze the risk factors affecting the technical failure of PsP.The treatment options of Pseudomonas aeruginosa-caused PDAP and the drug sensitivity of PsP were summarized. Results A total of 1530 peritoneal dialysis patients with complete data were included in this study,among which 439 patients had 664 times of PDAP.The incidence of PsP was 0.007 episodes/patient-year.PsP group had higher proportion of refractory peritonitis(41.38% vs.19.69%,P=0.005),lower cure rate(55.17% vs.80.79%, P=0.001),and higher extubation rate(24.14% vs.7.09%,P=0.003)than non-PsP group.The technical survival rate of PsP group was lower than that of non-PsP group(P<0.001).Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was an independent risk factor for technical failure in patients with PsP(HR=9.020,95%CI=1.141-71.279,P=0.037).Pseudomonas was highly sensitive to amikacin,meropenem,and piperacillin-tazobactam while highly resistant to compound sulfamethoxazole,cefazolin,and ampicillin. Conclusion The treatment outcome of PsP is worse than that of non-PsP,and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an independent risk factor for technical failure of PsP.
Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis/adverse effects* ; Peritonitis/etiology* ; Pseudomonas ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To observe clinical efficacy of chiropractic manipulation in the treatment of degenerative scoliosis (DS). METHODS: From June 2017 to September 2019, 120 patients with degenerative scoliosis were randomly divided into treatment group (60 cases) and control group(60 cases). The patients in treatment group were treated with chiropractic manipulation once every other day for 4 weeks. The patients in control group were treated with eperisone hydrochloride tablets combined with thoracolumbar orthopedic(TSLO)brace, oral eperisone hydrochloride tablets 50 mg three times a day, wearing TSLO brace for not less than 8 hours a day. The course of treatment was 4 weeks. After the patients were selected into the group, visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were recorded before treatment, 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks after treatment and 1 month after treatment. The full length X-ray of the spine was taken before and 4 weeks after treatment, and the scoliosis Cobb angle, sagittal vertical axis (SVA) and lumbar lordosis (LL) were measured and compared. The adverse reactions during the treatment were recorded. RESULTS: There were significant differences in VAS and ODI between two groups at each time point after treatment (P<0.001), VAS and ODI at 2 weeks after treatment (P_VAS=0.025, P_ODI=0.032) and 3 weeks after treatment(P_VAS=0.040, P_ODI=0.044) in treatment group were significantly different from those in control group, but there was no significant difference in VAS and ODI at other time points between treatment group and control group (P>0.05). There was significant difference in Cobb angle between treatment group(P=0.010) and control group(P=0.017) after treatment, but there was no significant difference in LL and SVA between treatment group and control group. There was no significant difference in Cobb angle, LL and SVA between two groups before and after treatment. During the treatment, there were 4 mild adverse reactions in the control group and no adverse reactions in the treatment group. CONCLUSION Chiropractic manipulation can effectively relieve pain and improve lumbar function in patients with degenerative scoliosis. The onset of action is faster than that oral eperisone hydrochloride tablets combined with TSLO brace, and it has better safety and can improve Cobb angle of patients with degenerative scoliosis.
Humans ; Lordosis ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Manipulation, Chiropractic ; Retrospective Studies ; Scoliosis/therapy* ; Spinal Fusion ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a risk prediction model of treatment failure in patients with peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) in 3 dialysis centers in Jilin Province who developed PDAP between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2019. The data collected from the Second Hospital of Jilin University and Second Division of First Hospital of Jilin University) were used as the training dataset and those from Jilin Central Hospital as the validation dataset. We developed a nomogram for predicting treatment failure using a logistic regression model with backward elimination. The performance of the nomogram was assessed by analyzing the C-statistic and the calibration plots. We also plotted decision curves to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the nomogram. RESULTS: A total of 977 episodes of PDAP were included in the analysis (625 episodes in the training dataset and 352 episodes in the validation dataset). During follow-up, 78 treatment failures occurred in the training dataset and 35 in the validation dataset. A multivariable logistic regression prediction model was established, and the predictors in the final nomogram model included serum albumin, peritoneal dialysate white cell count on day 5, PD duration, and type of causative organisms. The nomogram showed a good performance in predicting treatment failure, with a C-statistic of 0.827 (95% CI: 0.784-0.871) in the training dataset and of 0.825 (95% CI: 0.743-0.908) in the validation dataset. The nomogram also performed well in calibration in both the training and validation datasets. CONCLUSION The established nomogram has a good accuracy in estimating the risk of treatment failure in PDAP patients.
Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis/adverse effects* ; Peritonitis/therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Failure ; Treatment Outcome

Objective: To investigate death and attrition in HIV-infected children under initial antiretroviral therapy (ART) and associated factors in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in HIV-infected children under initial ART in Guangxi from 2004 to 2019, data from ART information system of National comprehensive AIDS prevention and treatment information system. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess factors associated with the death and attrition. Results: In 943 HIV-infected children, the overall mortality and attrition rates were 1.00/100 person-years and 0.77/100 person-years, respectively. The mortality and attrition rates within the first year of ART were 3.90/100 person-years and 1.67/100 person-years, respectively. The cumulative survival rate during the first, second, fifth and tenth year after ART was 96.14%, 95.80%, 93.68% and 91.54%, respectively. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models results showed that being female (aHR=2.00, 95%CI: 1.17-3.40), CD4⁺T lymphocytes (CD4) counts before ART <200 cells/μl (aHR=2.79, 95%CI: 1.54-5.06), weight-for-age Z score before ART <-2 (aHR=2.38, 95%CI: 1.32-4.26), hemoglobin before ART <80 g/L (aHR=2.47, 95%CI: 1.24-4.92), initial ART with LPV/r (aHR=5.05, 95%CI: 1.15-22.12) were significantly associated with death; being female (aHR=2.23, 95%CI: 1.22-4.07) and initial ART with LPV/r (aHR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.07-3.79) were significantly associated with attrition. Conclusions: The effect of ART in HIV-infected children in Guangxi was better, but the mortality and attrition rates were high within the first year of treatment. It is necessary to strengthen the training in medical staff and health education in HIV-infected children and their parents in order to improve the treatment effect.
Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use* ; Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Female ; HIV Infections/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Male ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies

Pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 has seriously threatened human life and health worldwide and caused a large number of deaths. Viral infection and acute inflammation are important causes of death, so it is particularly important to combine antiviral therapy with anti-inflammatory therapy. Glycyrrhizic acid, the main component of the glycyrrhizic root extract, has a wide range of pharmacological effects as well as high efficiency and low toxicity, its preparation has been widely used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis and other diseases. Glycyrrhizic acid can regulate the expression and release of a variety of cytokines and play a significant anti-inflammatory effect. At the same time, glycyrrhizic acid also showed significant inhibition towards a variety types of viruses. Therefore, the potential application of glycyrrhizic acid as COVID-19 treatment should be explored.

Objective To construct the eukaryotic expression vector plasmid enhanced green fluorescent protein (pEGFP)-N1-CPNE3, and identify the expression and localization of Copine-3 protein in cells. Methods The Copine-3 coding sequences (CPNE3) was amplified by RT-PCR from human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells and inserted into eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-Nl. The recombinant plasmid pEGFP-Nl-CPNE3 was confirmed by endonuclease digestion and sequencing before it was transfected into 293T and H1299 cells. Cellular localization of Copine-3-EGFP fusion protein was detected by con-focal laser scanning. Expression of Copine-3 in 293T and H1299 cells was detected by Western blotting analysis. Localization of Copine-3 in clinical samples of the lung adenocarcinoma patients was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results CPNE3 was successfully constructed into the eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-Nl and expressed in 293T and H1299 cells. Furthermore, the location of Copine-3 protein in cytoplasm and nucleus was determined by immunofluorescence staining, immuno Western blotting and immunohistochemistry in those cells and clinical samples. Conclusion The eukaryotic expression vector pEGFP-Nl-CPNE3 is constructed successfully, and Copine-3 protein is localized in cytoplasm and nucleus.

Objective: Several COVID-19 patients have overlapping comorbidities. The independent role of each component contributing to the risk of COVID-19 is unknown, and how some non-cardiometabolic comorbidities affect the risk of COVID-19 remains unclear. Methods: A retrospective follow-up design was adopted. A total of 1,160 laboratory-confirmed patients were enrolled from nine provinces in China. Data on comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio ( Results: Overall, 158 (13.6%) patients were diagnosed with severe illness and 32 (2.7%) had unfavorable outcomes. Hypertension (2.87, 1.30-6.32), type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (3.57, 2.32-5.49), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3.78, 1.81-7.89), fatty liver disease (7.53, 1.96-28.96), hyperlipidemia (2.15, 1.26-3.67), other lung diseases (6.00, 3.01-11.96), and electrolyte imbalance (10.40, 3.00-26.10) were independently linked to increased odds of being severely ill. T2DM (6.07, 2.89-12.75), CVD (8.47, 6.03-11.89), and electrolyte imbalance (19.44, 11.47-32.96) were also strong predictors of unfavorable outcomes. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease on admission (5.46, 3.25-9.19), while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes (6.58, 1.46-29.64) within two weeks. Conclusion Besides hypertension, diabetes, and CVD, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, other lung diseases, and electrolyte imbalance were independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity and poor treatment outcome. Women with comorbidities were more likely to have severe disease, while men with comorbidities were more likely to have unfavorable treatment outcomes.
Adult ; Aged ; COVID-19/virology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Treatment Outcome